Frank Finlay
Frank received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for his performance as William Shakespeare’s Iago in Stuart Burge’s 1965 film of Laurence Olivier’s staging of Othello. He also won the Best Actor Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. He later essayed the definitive screen portrayal of Alexandre Dumas’ musketeer Porthos in three movies for director Richard Lester: The Three Musketeers (1974), The Four Musketeers (1975) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989). Frank’s many other films include The Longest Day; Tony Richardson’s The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner; Martin Ritt’s The Molly Maguires; Bob Clark’s Murder by Decree; Alan Bridges’ The Return of the Soldier (for which he recieved a BAFTA Award nomination); Franco Zeffrelli’s Sparrow; and Eric Styles’ Dreaming of Joseph Lees; and most recently Roman Polanski’s multi-award winning The Pianist and Norma Jewison’s The Statement. His similarly extensive television projects have earned him two BAFTA Awards, for his performances in The Death of Adolf Hitler (starring as Hitler, with Rex Firkin directing); The Adventures of Don Quixote (as Sancho Panza, opposite Rex Harrison, for director Alvin Rakoff); the ground breaking Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Another Bouquet; 84 Charing Cross Road; and recently the critically acclaimed series The Sins. Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, Finlay had already begun performing on stage when he earned the Sir James Knott Scholarship at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Since then he has led theatre companies in London and on Broadway. He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1984 New Year’s Honours List, and was presented with his CBE by the Queen in February1984.
Known For
Credits
- 2018 · Nothing Like a Dame as Self (archive footage)
- 2015 · Fifty Shades of Erotica as
- 2008 · Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons as Alexander 'Alex' Combe
- 2008 · Merlin as Anhora
- 2007 · The Waiting Room as Roger
- 2006 · Johnny and the Bomb as Tom Maxwell
- 2004 · Lighthouse Hill as Alfred
- 2004 · Life Begins as Eric Thornhill
- 2003 · The Statement as Commissaire Vionnet
- 2003 · Eroica as Josef Haydn
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Asquith
- 2002 · The Pianist as Father
- 2001 · Station Jim as Riorden Snr
- 2001 · The Martins as Mr Heath
- 2000 · Sins as Uncle Irwin Green
- 2000 · For My Baby as Rudi Wittfogel
- 1999 · The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns as General Bulstrode
- 1999 · Dreaming of Joseph Lees as Father
- 1998 · Stiff Upper Lips as Hudson Junior
- 1998 · How Do You Want Me? as
- 1997 · Romance and Rejection (So This Is Romance?) as Mike's Dad
- 1997 · Limited Edition as John Rathbone
- 1995 · Virgin Mary as Monsignor
- 1995 · A Mind to Murder as Professor Etherege
- 1994 · Charlemagne, le prince à cheval as Alcuin
- 1994 · Sparrow as Father Nunzio
- 1994 · The Voyeur as Nino Rolfe
- 1993 · An Exchange of Fire as Pavel Rhele
- 1992 · Stalin as Sergei
- 1992 · The Other Side as Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1992 · Heartbeat as Howard Franklin
- 1992 · Cthulhu Mansion as Chandu
- 1991 · Mountain of Diamonds as Garrick
- 1991 · Prime Suspect as Arnold Tennison
- 1991 · The Burning Shore as Garrick
- 1990 · King of the Wind as Edward Coke
- 1989 · The Return of the Musketeers as Porthos
- 1987 · Erebus: The Aftermath as Justice Peter Mahon
- 1987 · Casanova as Razetta
- 1986 · Lovejoy as Harold Plumb
- 1985 · Nineteen Nineteen as Sigmund Freud (voice)
- 1985 · Lifeforce as Dr. Hans Fallada
- 1985 · In the Secret State as Frank Strange
- 1984 · Arch of Triumph as Col. Boris Morosov
- 1984 · A Christmas Carol as Jacob Marley
- 1984 · Sakharov as Kravtsov
- 1984 · Sherlock Holmes as Professor Coram / Sergius
- 1983 · The Key as Nino Rolfe
- 1983 · Blackadder as The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
- 1983 · The Ploughman's Lunch as Matthew Fox
- 1983 · The Spanish Civil War as Narrator
- 1983 · The Return of the Soldier as William Grey
- 1982 · Enigma as Canarsky
- 1982 · Mona as Captain Manson
- 1982 · Wogan as Self
- 1981 · Dear Brutus as Dearth
- 1979 · Ring of Darkness as Paul
- 1979 · Tales of the Unexpected as Arthur Pearson
- 1979 · Murder by Decree as Inspector Lestrade
- 1978 · Betzi as Napoleon
- 1978 · The Wild Geese as Fr. Geoghagen
- 1978 · The Thief of Baghdad as Abu Bakar
- 1978 · Saturday, Sunday, Monday as Peppino
- 1977 · Count Dracula as Abraham van Helsing
- 1977 · Count Dracula as Professor Van Helsing
- 1977 · Another Bouquet as
- 1976 · Laurence Olivier Presents as Peppino
- 1976 · Bouquet of Barbed Wire as Peter Manson
- 1975 · 84 Charing Cross Road as Frank Doel
- 1974 · The Four Musketeers as Porthos
- 1973 · Van der Valk and the Rich as Van der Valk
- 1973 · The Three Musketeers as Porthos / O'Reilly
- 1973 · Shaft in Africa as Vincent Amafi
- 1973 · The Death of Adolf Hitler as Adolf Hitler
- 1973 · The Adventures Of Don Quixote as Sancho Panza
- 1972 · Neither the Sea Nor the Sand as George Dabernon
- 1972 · Sitting Target as Marty Gold
- 1972 · Danny Jones as
- 1972 · The Merchant of Venice as Shylock
- 1971 · Gumshoe as William Ginley
- 1971 · Casanova as Casanova
- 1971 · Assault as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan
- 1970 · The Lie as Andrew Firth
- 1970 · Play for Today as
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dearth
- 1970 · The Body as Narrator
- 1970 · Cromwell as John Carter
- 1970 · The Molly Maguires as Davies
- 1969 · Blood of the Lamb as Albert
- 1969 · Julius Caesar as Brutus
- 1969 · The Piano Tuner as Wilfred Tilley
- 1968 · Twisted Nerve as Henry Durnley
- 1968 · The Shoes of the Fisherman as Igor Bounin
- 1968 · Inspector Clouseau as Supt. Weaver
- 1967 · I'll Never Forget What's'isname as Chaplain
- 1967 · Les Misérables as Jean Valjean
- 1967 · Robbery as Robinson
- 1967 · The Jokers as Harrassed Man
- 1967 · Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry
- 1967 · The Spare Tyres as Council foreman
- 1966 · The Deadly Bees as H.W. Manfred
- 1966 · The Sandwich Man as Second Fish Porter
- 1965 · Othello as Iago
- 1965 · The Wild Affair as Drunk
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Marcus Brutus
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Sancho Panza
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Voltaire
- 1965 · A Study in Terror as Inspector Lestrade
- 1965 · Olivier Talks About Othello as (archive footage)
- 1964 · The Comedy Man as Prout
- 1964 · Hot Enough for June as British Embassy Porter
- 1963 · The Informers as Leon Sale
- 1963 · Doctor in Distress as Corsetiere
- 1962 · The Longest Day as Pvt. Coke (uncredited)
- 1962 · The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner as Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
- 1962 · Life for Ruth as Teddy's Father
- 1962 · The Hard Knock as Franco Angelo
- 1962 · Studio Four as Fernand Destayac
- 1962 · Z-Cars as
- 1962 · Private Potter as Capt. Patterson
- 1960 · Target Luna as Conway Henderson